Role of nuclear receptor CAR in carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity

AIM: To investigate the precise roles of CAR in CCl4-induced acute hepatotoxicity. METHODS: To prepare an acute liver injury model, CCl4- induced was intraperitoneally injected in CAR+/+ and CAR-/- mice. RESULTS: Elevation of serum alanine aminotransferase and extension of centrilobular necrosis were slightly inhibited in CAR-mice compared to CAR+/+ mice without PB. Administration of a CAR inducer, PB, revealed that CCl4-induced liver toxicity was partially inhibited in CAR-/- mice compared with CAR+/+ mice. On the other hand, androstanol, an inverse agonist ligand, inhibited hepatotoxicity in CAR+/+ but not in CAR-/- mice. Thus, CAR activation caused CCl4- induced hepatotoxicity while CAR inhibition resulted in partial protection against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity.There were no differences in the expression of CYP2E1, the main metabolizing enzyme for CCl4, between CAR+/+ and CAR-/- mice. However, the expression of other CCl4-metabolizing enzymes, such as CYP2B10 and 3A11, was induced by PB in CAR+/+ but not in CAR-/- mice. Although the main pathway of CCl4-induced acute liver injury is mediated by CYP2E1, CAR modulates its pathway via induction of CYP2B10 and3A11 in the presence of activator or inhibitor. CONCLUSION: The nuclear receptor CAR modulates CCl4-induced liver injury via induction of CCl4-metabolizing enzymes in the presence of an activator. Our results suggest that drugs interacting with nuclear receptors such as PB might play critical roles in drug-induced liver injury or drug-drug interaction even though such drugs themselves are not hepatotoxic.